The New York Rangers are heading into some truly choppy waters. The loss of Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox has the club in full damage control mode. Despite club owner James Dolan preaching patience, the reality is that time is running out.
That’s the sentiment conveyed in a January 6 piece in RG Media. In the piece, veteran NHL reporter James Murphy discussed the timeline for a massive shake on Broadway with an anonymous source close to the team.
As such, the following discussion must be taken with a grain of salt. But anyone following the Rangers can see this scenario playing out.
In the piece, the source told Murphy about how much longer Rangers President and GM Chris Drury is likely to wait before heading into a massive shakeup.
The source stated:
“Drury won’t wait much longer. He was poking around on the trade market and he’s let it be known, he’s not afraid to move a big name off his roster, too. If he makes an impact move, it’s going to be a roster player for a roster player, and it will be a shakeup move to send a message to that dressing room.”
Those comments came before Dolan’s public endorsement of Drury. Thereafter, the source had this to say following Dolan’s interview on Monday:
“Clearly, Drury has convinced the owner it’s on the players and he has the green light to make whatever moves he deems necessary.”
That sounds like Drury has firmly thrown the players under the bus. As such, a major shakeup may not be far off. The source revealed a timeline for a major move:
“He had high hopes for this roster, and on paper you can see why, but for whatever reason, they just haven’t clicked. He already made that big trade for J.T. Miller last year, and he didn’t wait for the trade deadline. He knows this year, he may have to pull the trigger even earlier if they don’t get going here.”
If Drury is not going to wait until the March 6 trade deadline, the only other plausible timeframe is now until February 4, when the Olympic roster freeze goes into effect. At that point, teams can talk, but nothing can officially happen until the freeze is lifted on February 22. In the interim, only handshake deals can happen.
But would Drury wait that long? Not according to Murphy’s sources. A huge trade could come within the next few weeks, especially after Drury has gotten his owner’s full backing.
The source concluded the point by stating:
“Like I said before, if they don’t gain traction here, I think something will happen soon and definitely prior to the Olympic trade freeze.”
As for who might get shipped out, the usual suspects emerged in the conversation: Vincent Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad, and Artemi Panarin.
Per the source, Panarin’s name was out there before the Holiday roster freeze. That’s nothing Earth-shattering. As for Trocheck and Zibanejad, they’ve been part of ongoing speculation. So, again, nothing mind-shocking.
The source, however, did point out something pretty much evident to anyone familiar with the Rangers:
“Those are obviously tough contracts to move with their age, money and term left but Drury could pull it off with money out and money in if he found the right fit.”
As for what the Rangers might get back, that’s an entirely different conversation. We could spend days mulling over the potential return for Trocheck or Zibanejad. The only thing that seems certain is that the Rangers are out of runway. A major move needs to happen, and it might not be long before it happens.